Electrofishing: Who Knew?!!

Submitted by Leisa Wick on Thu, 2017-06-22 00:00

Hello digital observers!  I am posting this today about our experiences yesterday as we were camping with no cell service to post yesterday. Honestly, I was pretty apprehensive about camping yesterday, but it really was a great experience! The University of Idaho Outdoor Recreation Department joined us, guiding us down the river, feeding us, and it was nice getting to know each of them.   We had a visit from two Department of Environmental Quality summer interns Todd and Katie. They gave us a demonstration of something I had never heard of—Electrofishing.  Here is my very unscientific understanding of what electrofishing is.  Its purpose is to collect fish to determine many things I don’t quite understand about fish inhabiting a creek, river, etc.  High voltage electrodes are placed in the water, and stunned fish cannot help but swim towards the electricity. Once Katie and Todd were finished with their testing of the small fish they caught in a net, it was released back into the river with no permanent damage done. It was very interesting. Something I wondered about was if people ever use Electrofishing to catch fish instead of using a rod and reel?  We then floated approximately eight miles down the river, stopping to have lunch and to also to do water quality testing along the way—one of Marie’s FAVORITE things to do!  I didn’t know someone could get so excited about testing water! 

If you are not a science teacher, how do you think you could incorporate  water testing and Electrofishing into your curriculum?

Comments

mpengilly's picture

Leisa, I'm so happy I could share my love of water testing with you. Swapping water quality data for haikus with the "Lake Lurkers" was one of the highlights of my week!

Bobbi Eby's picture

I am so glad that you described electrofishing the way that you did! I was able to picture and understand what you were doing. I have heard of it being used for conducting surveys, but I have never witnessed it. I do know, however, that it is illegal to use electrofishing as a layperson, and it is only permitted for studies. Otherwise, we would all be fishing that way! 

Nola Shanley's picture

As a digital observer, your description of electrofishing is very easy to envision.  Leisa (doll), you posed a question regarding how a non-Science content teacher might incorporate this into their personal curriculum? I'm guessing that electrofishing is likely used in other parts of North America and other continents.  If I am wrong, I'll blame my ignorance on being a non-Science person.  Perhaps the data collected via the electrofishing could be compared and inferences could be made about the quality of life that local people might experience based on ecosystem stressors, impact on local environment, and access to resources.  Certainly, annotating a quick article about electrofishing's p history could be interesting.  Cool blog post, doll! 

Randy Boyd's picture

I'm pretty sure electrfishing isn't legal for sport fishing,kind of like using barbed hooks. Haha I'm bet it was really something to see though, I'd really like to see the process some time!

Randy Boyd's picture

I'm pretty sure electrfishing isn't legal for sport fishing,kind of like using barbed hooks. Haha I'm bet it was really something to see though, I'd really like to see the process some time!